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Volleyball19/09/2015

Dominican Republic survive Italy and advance to the finals

Maunabo, Puerto Rico, September 18, 2015 - In a nerve-wrecking duel, Dominican Republic resisted a double reaction by Italy and prevailed 3-2 (25-20, 19-25, 25-22, 24-26, 15-7) to book a place on the final match for the second time on this age group.

Dominican heroin Brayelin Martínez picked up 27 points, as she was once again a beacon for her teammates en-route to the gold medal match. Gaila González was on her trail with 18 tallies, while Paola Egonu topped the list in Italy scoring 21 times.

Dominican Republic opened the game with their super-fast pace, enjoying a 5-point lead with Brayelin and Natalia Martínez nearly unstoppable. Italy swiftly answered on the second as Anna Danesi carved a 19-12 score, big enough to survive the deep gap they fell into right after. Zanette and Egonu got together to finally level the match.

The match drew near its climax as both teams fought every single ball in the third set, in a thrilling up-and-down battle. At the final track, González acquired a key 23-21 and a tricky serve by Jineiry Martínez gave the set to the Dominican Republic. Martínez continued very active at the fourth set, but Italy relied on some blocks to keep the fight and it was Danesi, precisely with a killing block, the one who created the tie-break.

Playing a fifth set for the first time had no side effects on the Dominicans, as they spiked the way to an 8-4 score. After switching sides, the distance remained to 10-6 and sisters Brayelin and Jineiry teamed up perfectly to an ultimate 15-7.